Porch Notes
Fielding Yost and the Little Brown Jug
History and culture
Long before Michigan had the Big House, it had Fielding Yost — the coach who, starting in 1901, turned the Wolverines into a juggernaut. His teams of 1901–1904 are remembered as the “point-a-minute” squads because they scored at a barely believable rate, winning four straight national titles and shutting out nearly everyone they played.
That dominance gave college football its oldest trophy. In 1903, Yost took his unbeaten team to play Minnesota, and — worried the home crowd might tamper with his players’ drinking water — had a manager buy a five-gallon stoneware jug for 30 cents. The game ended in a wild 6-6 tie, and in the chaos of leaving, Michigan forgot the jug. Minnesota kept it, painted the score on the side, and when Yost wrote asking for it back, the reply (as the story goes) was that he’d have to come win it. When the teams next met in 1909, Michigan did just that. Ever since, the winner of the Michigan-Minnesota game takes home the “Little Brown Jug” and paints on the score.
Where to see it
The Little Brown Jug travels to whichever team last won the Michigan-Minnesota game; when Michigan holds it, it's typically displayed at the school's football facility in Ann Arbor.